In Their Own Words: U.S. Think Tank "Experts" and the Framing of Education Policy Debates

McDonald, Lauren

Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, v11 n3 p1-28 Jul 2013

This study draws on forty-six interviews conducted with staff from think tanks, education advocacy organizations, and university based education policy centers to discuss five prominent frames--the Public Education in Crisis frame, the Human Capital frame, the Unions are the Problem frame, the Advocates not Researchers frame, and the Irrelevant Academics frame. These frames are analyzed within context of the historical rise of conservative think tanks, the influence of neoliberal and neoconservative discourse in the policy arena, and the homogeneity of policy positions across ideologically different think tanks and advocacy organizations.